Washington- Gita Gopinath returns to Harvard University in January

International Monetary Fund chief economist Gita Gopinath will leave her post and go back to Harvard University’s economics department in January, the fund declared on Tuesday. The statement said, Harvard university extended Gita Gopinath’s leave of absence on an exceptional basis by one year, which permitted her to serve at the IMF for three years.

She heads the IMF’s research department produces the quarterly World Economic Outlook report with its closely watched GDP growth forecasts. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva praised Ms. Gopinath who made history as the first woman to serve in the top economics post for her analysis during the pandemic.

Georgieva said, Gita’s contribution to the Fund and our membership has been remarkable, her impact on the IMF’s work has been commendable. She had an important role in setting global vaccination targets to end the pandemic and also helped set up a Climate Change team inside the IMF to analyze among other things.